The Philadelphia 76ers have made a bit of a rotation change in their 2021 playoff series with the Washington Wizards. During the season, coach Doc Rivers normally went to Shake Milton as the first backup guard off the bench, but he has recently turned to rookie Tyrese Maxey.
Rivers explained Maxey’s speed is a big reason for that. He is a better fit against Raul Neto and Ish Smith off Washington’s bench. Given the playoffs are mostly based on matchups and how coaches make adjustments, Maxey could be a better fit against Washington, but Milton could be the guy Rivers goes to in the future.
In this series, Milton is averaging 3.0 points on 16.7% shooting and 25% from deep while averaging 2.3 turnovers, and that can get into the head of a young player. However, he has veterans around him to keep his head in it.
“Just to be yourself,” said Tobias Harris on any advice he’d give to Milton. “That’s something I’ve talked to him about. It’s obviously early in the playoffs as well so you can never get too high or too low out there. You got to stay true to yourself, stay true for your work, and what you put in all year. It just takes one game to really try and find a good rhythm and to be able to flow off of that so that’s my advice to him.”
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Harris is having a terrific start to the playoffs, but he knows all too well about struggles in the postseason. Before the 2021 playoffs, he shot 31.1% from deep in his postseason career, so he knows how to keep his head in the game. When Milton eventually gets his groove back, it will be helpful to Philadelphia.
“In the moment, you have to just be ready for that,” Harris continued. “You have to trust that that game will come, and it will for him this. We need Shake what type of player he is and he’ll have that game where he’ll break out and get in his rhythm and he’ll forget about all the rest and keep moving forward. That’s my advice to him. I’ve told him that already. We’re confident in him as well.”
The Sixers will look for a sweep on Monday at 7 p.m. EDT from Capital One Arena.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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